Shakespeare warns Leicester to beware sting in tale

Leicester City's defender Danny Simpson (C) celebrates following the English Premier League football match between Leicester City and Sunderland at the King Power Stadium in Leicester, central England on April 4, 2017

Leicester City's defender Danny Simpson (C) celebrates following the English Premier League football match between Leicester City and Sunderland at the King Power Stadium in Leicester, central England on April 4, 2017 (AFP Photo/Paul ELLIS)

Leicester (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Craig Shakespeare refused to declare Leicester's survival battle won despite leading his team into the top half of the Premier League table.

Shakespeare's team moved to 10th place after a 2-0 victory against Sunderland on Tuesday that left beleaguered Black Cats boss David Moyes looking doomed to relegation.

The triumph extended Shakespeare's winning run at the start of his Premier League management career to five games and took the Foxes to nine points above the bottom three.

But Shakespeare, who replaced the sacked Claudio Ranieri, refused to accept the job of staving off relegation is complete.

"No, I am still not going to say that because I think we are never quite sure if other teams are capable of going on good runs," he said.

"I have been in football for long enough to know anything can happen.

"We have to make sure we stay focused and move onto the next one.

"We have to make sure we prepare for Sunday at Everton because that'll be another big test for us.

"We have to make sure we're ready for each football match.

"That's my job. We have to be competitive in every game but the idea is to try to win it and that's what we'll do until the end of the season."

Shakespeare admitted that his start to life at the helm had exceeded his own expectations, with his Midas touch extending to inspirational substitutions against Sunderland.